Gregory Hecht Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 I have two Bill Mauldin books that I want to submit to the master database, Up Front and Back Home (I am fortunate to have first hardcover editions of these from my grandfather, though they are without dustjackets). Both of these books reprint lots of his cartoons (particularly Mauldin's Willie & Joe cartoons), but they also have a lot of text. The text is not incidental, it is extensive. The cartoons are also *very* plentiful. So an argument can be made either way as to whether these belong in the books category or the comics category. Any thoughts as to which is category most appropriate? (The database does include Fantagraphics' reprinting of Back Home in the comics category, but that wasn't likely to have been a deliberate decision... the book existed in the database long before ComicBase started separating titles into comics, magazines, and books categories.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J. Castaneda Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 what's the ratio of comics strips vs text for the books? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Hecht Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 Not sure now you would quantify such a thing. (How many words of narrative are equivalent to one cartoon?) All of the cartoons are single panel cartoons, not comic strips. They are reprinted as either full page, 3/4 page, or 1/2 page (the book is roughly 6" x 9"). Most of the pages include a cartoon, but (guesstimate) maybe 25% of the pages do not have a cartoon. The book is definitely not all cartoons. That said, the narrative is about the cartoons and it provides extensive background for the cartoons (specific events or circumstances that inspired them, etc). Maybe Mauldin's opening paragraph in Up Front is an argument for this to be a comic: "My business is drawing, not writing, and this text is pretty much background for the drawings. It is not a book about my personal life or experiences. I don't think that would be very interesting to anyone by myself." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J. Castaneda Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 sound like it should be in 'books' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Hecht Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 OK, will do. Can you also move the Fantagraphics reprint of Back Home to books? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Hecht Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 I've made the submissions. Cover price is something of a guess b/c the original cover price would have been on the dustjacket (which as I indicated above I do not have). Somewhere in my travels I believe I saw that they had an original cover price of $3.95, but if somebody is able to verify otherwise then they should submit the correction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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